RAEF
by TheDapLab
Summary: Zatanna comes to Gotham seeking a magic artifact smuggler, to avoid dispute she requests the aid of Batman. What could go wrong when magic is unleashed in his city. Rated M for disturbing imagery,


**Something new, a request for what might happen if a hero was to fall, in a way.**

**We hope you enjoy what we have been cooking up...**

Magic, he always hated it. It defied the very laws of physics, making the impossible possible and was no end of trouble. Why he had agreed to get involved in another of Zatanna's cases was beyond him, except he considered her a friend and she needed his help; the case in question having lead her to Gotham.

None of the league entered the city without Batman's permission first, not even Superman, out of a combination of fear and respect. The rumours regarding files on how to take down every member of the league in case they turned rogue were common and few wanted to test it's existence by crossing the caped crusader.

Her case had led them to an abandoned apartment block, hunting down a thief of magical artifacts, though that was something tugging at the back of his mind, something that felt familiar.

All further thought on the matter was abandoned for them both when the floor exploded and they fell into the trap below.

When Batman came to, he groaned as he pulled himself upright, getting a bearing on his surroundings. He was alone, but could see a red glowing light coming from under a closed door at the end of the room. Making his way quietly over, he slowly pushed it open, jaw dropping when he saw what was on the other side. Zatanna floated there, red light pouring out of her eyes and a metal crown upon her head.

"Ah Bruce, I was wondering when you would wake up," a cruel smile plastered across her face, "thanks to this lovely tricket, I've realised just how much I've been holding myself back all these years, well that's about to change. Protelet!"

When Batman regained consciousness again, he was bound to a chair in the middle of the Watchtower's observation deck. He could only watch in horror at what was going on around him and on the monitors. The members of the league were falling one by one to Zatanna's magic, using the methods he had created in case any of them went rogue. As soon as each one fell, she chanted 'drac' and they were each locked away in a giant playing card and hung from the wall. He could see them glaring down at him, banging on their prison with accusations in their eyes. Zatanna and her damned magic had being the one to bring them down, but they still blamed him because she used his methods.

It did not take long for the entire league to be defeated, placed on display around him and the laughing magic user conducting the whole thing.

"Now what shall I do with them…" she paused, looking around while thinking, before perking up with excitement. "I know, you love to mock me for my shows, why don't we place you front and centre!"

When he came to, he was strapped to the chair still, but had extra restraints keeping him looking directly forwards. He was sitting in the best seat in the house, the theatre Zatanna usually performed in, and out of the corner of his eye he could see the audience was composed of leering villains; twisted grins on every face he could see. There was something not quite right about how they looked and sat. His attention was dragged back to the stage as the 'show' had started.

A number of the cards tipped over, depositing a handful of members of the league on the floor, before jerking them to their feet, strings controlling them like puppets. What followed was a macabre reimagining of a stage magicians act. Green Arrow was strapped to a board and giggled as knife after knife was flung into his flesh. Superman was placed in a box and dozens of swords thrust into it, blood running out the bottom as he moaned within. Green Lantern was sawn in half, the two pieces flopping around the stage. Other members were dancing around on their strings like stage assistants as heroes were mutilated and killed in various magic acts. He wasn't sure how long it went on for, but eventually she got bored and sealed the rest back up in cards, suddenly back in the watchtower as she turned to look at him with boredom and contempt; angered that her show hadn't impacted him at all. Maybe it wasn't convincing enough for him...

"It's by your hand they fall, but it is by my hand they die!" she yelled with glee, snapping her fingers and adding "nrub." Batman watched in horror as every card started smoking at the bottom, their occupants scrambling to break free as they burst into flame. Within minutes, every card had been reduced to ash, the league wiped out as casually as one might squash a fly. Shock registering on her victim's face as the smell of burning flesh hit him, could this actually be real...

"Now that we are alone, I have something special in mind for you Bruce, the unbreakable Batman, who looks down on the rest of us, I'm going to bring you down to our level…"

They were suspended in a void, fuzzy blobs surrounding them. "Nekaew" she chanted, his strength leaving him, helpless to do anything but watch as one by one the blobs cleared up into different images of himself. Or rather, different versions of Batman.

In some he was fucking the Batgirls, Huntress and other female vigilanties. Some he was doing it with the string of Robins. Others it was a mix of male and female partners. In many it was willing, but in others they were clearly being forced. Some it was one partner, others it was an orgy of hedonistic proportions. In a number he ruled as a god amongst men, keeping an entire harem of heroes and villains as spoils of conquest. Then there were some where he failed, degraded and violated by those he tried to stop

Even more common than those, were visions of death. So many he went insane and killed first the Joker, then the other criminals and eventually all who stood in his way until he was either dead or ruled the planet. So many where he slaughtered the Justice League before they could stop him. One vision in particular disturbed him, where it looked like he became the Joker, though there were dozens of times he took the role or power of an array of villains to seize power. Death was the common link with those visions, bodies heaped up in slaughter as the Batmen took out their rage and blood lust.

Even the ones that looked more familiar to him, which looked closer to his reality, they all eventually ended with everyone he loved dying by his enemies hands, all while he decried and fell victim to the endless battles.

In all of them, the end was the same...

"This is the multiverse," she told him, "you end up as the monster you fight, that others see you as, it's only a matter of time before you get put down like a mad dog or die in failure. Despite everything you say and do, you're more likely to fall than the rest of us."

"Even your power can't extend to multi dimensions," he growled, doing his best not to focus on the images around him.

"Oh no? Do you want to know what the one common link is? Daed stnerap." Gesturing as she spoke the spell and the images around them changed. Instead of seeing the fall of all the Batmen, instead he saw their creation.

The death of his parents, played out an infinite number of times, stretching off into the distance, no matter what way he looked, they died in new and increasingly disturbing ways.

"You're still resisting, how about we mix it up…" Suddenly he wasn't just watching the killings, he was doing them. Bare hands, weapons, super powers, all sorts of possibilities blurred together as he was forced to slaughter his parents time after time. It wasn't different versions anymore, it was the same one, but Zatanna's magic kept bringing them back to life every time he killed them. He knew this wasn't real, it couldn't be, but…

"Why isn't this working" she growled, having forced him to kill them dozens of times, failing to get any reaction out of him by now. "Maybe this is too old, maybe we need something newer… yalper."

They were suddenly in front of a warehouse Batman only ever saw in his nightmares. That cursed place in Ethiopia, where his greatest failure had occurred.

"NO!" he shouted, shock turned to horror as the scene played out in front of him again, as it had done in his nightmares. If she was able to do everything he had seen her do, then maybe this was real. He had to take the risk, even as his subconscious knew if this was real, it was being done to torture him. It felt like running through quicksand as he charged for the door, the heat of the explosion slapping him in the face and hurling him back as the building erupted in a massive fireball.

Clenching his jaw with rage, he staggered to his feet, hearing 'yniydnu' behind him and flinching as something stirred in the smouldering ruins. His eyes widened as it registered, a nightmare made real, the charred corpse of Jason Todd, the second Robin, pulled itself free and began staggering towards him.

"Why did you let me die Bruce? Why have you never avenged me? Now I have to do it myself…" the body moaned, limbs twisted in ways that no living person could have walked on as it dragged itself closer. "Zatanna has given me the chance, I will find the Joker and he will burn, all thanks to her power. You're too afraid to see what magic can really do!" The shredded remains of its face pulled into a gleeful grin as it reached for Batman, only to stumble backwards as an armoured gauntlet broke its nose.

"You aren't Jason," he growled, standing up fully, "Jason is alive again and it was the madness of the lazarus pit that drove him to this." He faced down the creature wearing his former sidekicks skin, as it pulled itself upright.

"But here and now he only survives because I will it!" Zatanna growled, the scene fading away and another replacing it. It was Dick, the day his parents died, falling to his death with them, the mangled bodies dragging themselves upright and laughing as they shambled towards him, Jason's corpse appearing as well.

Then came Tim, killed by drone fire in a battle he had no chance of winning, but one that he fought regardless. Next was Damian, killed by his clone. Huntress shot down by her gangster relatives. Stephanie Brown dying in some god forsaken hole in the depths of the city. Alfred dying from grief as the bat family dwindled until there was just one left. The original, surrounded by the jeering corpses of his friends and family, who had died because he failed them, because no matter what he did, it was never enough.

There was one missing though, the mad magic user had saved the worst for last. Jason had been his biggest failure as Batman, but there was a worse betrayal he had committed.

The crowd faded away and he found himself laid on his back on a rooftop, knowing exactly what was coming. Barbara Gorden, the original Batgirl, was astride him, kissing him, before pulling her costume off. He knew he should stop her as she undid his, but like last time desire overtook him, offered so willingly as she sank around him, riding him while he groped her naked body.

"I'll make sure no one else gets hurt Jim," the scene had shifted, no longer on that roof where Batgirl had seduced him, but talking to her father, Jim Gordon, one of Bruce's best friends, promising he will stop the joker.

It changed again, a different night, Batgirl bent over the computer in the cave as he fucked her from behind, their passionate moans echoing in his ears. It had been so long since he had known female company, that was so eager to please, that they were doing this on every night now; to chase away the demons and find comfort in each other.

Jim was there again, the Joker had escaped and had some new mad plan. Batman was barely paying attention, remembering the feel of his daughter in bed, having spent last night wearing themselves out after patrol; costumes discarded on the floor as he had his way with her.

He received the fatal news, the Joker had struck, mortally wounding Barbara with a bullet to the spine, doing things to her as she died and kidnapping Jim. Too far behind, he had caught up to his nemesis, only to find he was too late. Jim was dead, his mutilated body strung up like a trophy. He had killed the Joker that night, for all he had taken, watching in horror as his body, as well as Barbara and Jim, joined the growing horde of dead. Crying out why he didn't save them, why he let them die, what did they do to deserve the fate he had thrust upon them.

"What do you say to them Batman? What do you say to your adoring fans?" Zatanna screamed, floating above them all, her crown glowing with magical fury.

"That you fell right into my trap," he growled, glaring up at her with such fury she flinched. "I know what's going on now, that was a false memory, I had a moment of weakness that happened once, we never spoke of it again afterwards. She survived the bullet, Jim survived Joker's nightmare and the Joker went to Arkham that night. Jason and Damian died but were brought back to life later; the rest either faked their death or never died." The dead were falling back from him, almost afraid of his fury. "You showed me maybes, things that could have happened, nightmares and situations drawn from the dark depths of my mind, but if your magic had increased like you claim, you could turn this world to hell on earth, summon forth monsters, bend the very fabric of reality to your will and yet all you do is torment me with the things anyone could use."

His grapple gun was in hand, she didn't know where he had pulled it from, but he was soaring up into the air to meet her.

"I know Zatanna, she would know more ways to fight me, to hurt me, she wouldn't even give me a chance to fight back! But there is only so much you can convince the mind of ..."

Attempting to scream one last spell, she gasped as a batarang hit her throat, cutting off what she was about to say and leaving her watching in horror as he came closer; his fist passing through her head and shattering the crown.

"I wondered where you had been hiding Dr Crane…"

He opened his eyes slowly, taking stock of where he was. Laid on his back in the room they had fallen into, now he knew what he was looking for, the smell of the gas was obvious. Turning his head slowly, he spied Crane, better known as the villain Scarecrow, crouched over Zatanna, who was curled in a ball and shaking; all while he grinned and whispered to her.

Carefully gaging his strength, he climbed to his feet, bracing himself before hurling batarangs and charging. Catching Scarecrow completely by surprise, knocking him sprawling and tackling the villain clear of his teammate. In the confusion, still disoriented from the fear gas he had already ingested, he was unable to prevent a syringe sticking into his leg and giving him a more concentrated dose, managing to knock Crane out with an armour gauntlet to the face before collapsing next to him. Managing to hit the distress beacon on his belt, he hoped he hadn't imagined that as the dead came screaming back, clawing at his mind and body with renewed spite.

He didn't know how long they assailed him, before he found himself lying on an operating table, Nightwing barely catching his fist while he surged upright, groaning as his body protested the sudden movement.

"It's ok Bruce, we got you, we brought you back and got you the antidote," Dick reassured him, while Alfred appeared on the other side of the table and checked the Dark Knight's vitals.

"Everything seems to be back to normal, though you have been asleep for two days now Master Bruce, we were beginning to get worried…" His oldest friend sighed, before smiling, glad to have his ward back in the world of the living?

"And Zatanna?"  
"Still out, I'm afraid, she hasn't quite got the resilience you have from years of exposure to Scarecrow and his tricks. She is resting peacefully and we have let the league know, we will have to wait for her to wake up in her own time."

It was a further three days before she approached him in his study, having been given a clean bill of health by Alfred and the league specialist who had visited to check up on them both. Once Alfred had brought them tea, they sat down, both unsure where to start.

"How did you manage to break free?" she asked when the silence got too much, "I was trapped, my magic was gone and I was pursued by demons and monsters. Even you came after me considering me a danger that must be destroyed. Without the antidote I don't know…"

"It was your lessons on magic that helped," Bruce admitted, "Scarecrow used our fear and distrust of each other and those we work closest with against us. But he doesn't know how magic works, so could only come up with a more intense version of the nightmares he usually plagues me with. As he has no idea how magic works, he wasn't able to do things I know you would be able to do normally. He also got carried away and focused too much on my past, you would have found more creative ways to get to me. Using false memories and the limitations he had placed on himself without knowing, I was able to break free." He paused, taking a sip of tea. "Years of breathing the stuff helped, though I wouldn't recommend it…"  
"I didn't know you had a sense of humour," she grinned, relaxing and drinking as well. "So are you telling me that you were able to see through his illusion because you knew I would be able to do so much more than he was showing you?"

"Something like that, my dislike of magic stopped me learning about it for some time, but now I know exactly what it's capable of, I have more of an idea what it should and shouldn't be able to do."

"Hmm, well it seems my thief fell foul of your bad guy, so at least that's two things taken care of. I would love to see you try and explain your new found knowledge to Constantine though…"

"I think I've had enough magic for now," he sighed, "just try and keep it out of my city, things are bad enough as it is without him and the trouble he causes. It's still more trouble than it's worth," he grumbled, while Zatanna watched with amusement, pausing as something in the manner exploded.

"What…?"

"Like I said, I have enough trouble," Bruce replied, getting to his feet and heading out to see what his ever growing family had done this time, leaving Zatanna to finish her tea and relax as she watched out the window as what passed for an argument with this group of heroes started. _Magic is trouble, your kids are using swords, explosives and guns on each othe_r, she thought, knowing they wouldn't hurt each other too badly.

"I swear I will never understand that man," she sighed to herself, returning the tea cup to the kitchen and gathering the artifacts to take back home with her. The hard part of her current mission was over, but she had a very good idea as to why a lot of her colleagues avoided Gotham now. Batman could prepare for any situation he could imagine, that much was clear; except for his own kids. It was times like this she was really glad he was on their side, even as she questioned how unaffected he really was by the earlier events.


End file.
